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Thursday, 30 June 2016

Action
for Southern Africa (ACTSA) has called on the international community to apply
serious pressure on the Government of Swaziland so that it respects human
rights and develops a genuinely democratic constitution.

The absolute monarch King
Mswati III is due to become the chairperson of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) in August 2016 while his government continues to violate human
rights with impunity. In a report published on
Wednesday (29 June 2016), ACTSA warned that Swaziland might plunge
into a protracted crisis unless African governments, as well as bilateral and
multilateral donors, vigorously and consistently engage with the Government of
Swaziland so that it genuinely protects and serves all of its citizens.

In a statement,
ACTSA said, ‘The report, Swaziland’s Downward Spiral, outlines how the current Constitution of
Swaziland fails to respect democratic norms, and many laws undermine basic
freedoms, especially those of women. The country’s largest opposition party,
the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), is banned.

‘Trade unions and other
civil society organisations seeking to promote human rights and democracy
endure systematic oppression. As a result of mismanagement and corruption, the
economy is in a dire state, with 63 percent of the population living below the
poverty line, and wealth concentrated in the hands of the royal family and a
tiny elite close to the King.’

The statement continued, ‘The
report argues that the international community has not sufficiently engaged
with the denial of human rights and with authoritarianism in Swaziland. Some,
especially those within the country, interpret this as condoning the actions of
the King and his government. Ultimately, real and lasting change will only come
about if the King enters into meaningful dialogue with his political opponents,
as well as with all sections of civil society. Internal pressure for reform can
and must be bolstered by significant external pressure.’

The report is the latest in
a long line of reports published over the past two months highlighting human
rights abuses in the kingdom where King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s
last absolute monarch.

The United Nations Human Rights Council Working Group
on the Universal Periodic Review of Swaziland met in May 2016 and received
reports from a large number of organisations within Swaziland and outside
calling on the Swazi regime to improve its human rights record.

Human
Rights Watch reported that Swaziland had not kept its promise made in 2011
to change laws in the kingdom relating to freedom of association and assembly
so they met international standards.

A joint
report from Swaziland Multi-Media Community Network, Swaziland Concerned
Church Leaders, Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations and Constituent
Assembly – Swaziland stated Swazi police tortured a 15-year-old boy after his
mother had reported him for stealing E85 (US$6).

A joint
report from SOS-Swaziland, Super Buddies, Prison Fellowship and Luvatsi –
Swaziland Youth Empowerment Organisation, stated children as young as 11 years
old were being incarcerated in juvenile correction facilities in Swaziland for
up to 10 years, even though they had committed no crimes.

Rock of Hope, which campaigns for LGBTI equality in
Swaziland, reported
that laws, social stigma and prejudice prevented LGBTI organisations from
operating freely.

Wednesday, 29 June 2016

Three
members of the Swaziland Communist Party who are accused of setting houses
alight as a protest against a chief have been granted bail by the High Court after
spending 115 days in jail on remand.

Sithembiso
Sibandze, Qiniso Mkhatshwa and Siyabonga Gina were accused of burning four huts
at Chief Mshikashika II’s Royal Kraal at KaNgcamphalala. They have been charged
under the Suppression of Terrorism Act.

They have
been given bail of E15,000 each and banned from crossing the Mzimnene River to
the Manzini city centre or going to Siphofaneni.

Their
bail application was opposed by the office of the Swazi Director of Public Prosecutions
on the grounds that they would interfere with potential crown witnesses, some
of whom were their relatives.

The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect
owned by King Mswati III, who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch,
reported on Wednesday (29 June 2016) that the prosecution argued two of the men
had already admitted guilt, ‘since they confirmed to have torched the houses,
causing over E100,000 [US$6,676] worth of damage’.

According
to the newspaper, the accused, ‘said they wanted the chief to spring into
action and convene a meeting for the residents. They claimed that the chief was
abusive towards the residents and stifled their development because he demanded
too much money from the sugar cane schemes, where he demanded to be paid E5,000
yearly from each of the 65 associations.’

Tuesday, 28 June 2016

People are being shot and killed in Swaziland because
they are suspected of poaching and game rangers are immune from prosecution, a
United Nations review on human rights has been told.

The Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic
Organisations (SCCCO) reported, ‘There are numerous of cases where citizens are
shot and killed by game rangers for alleged poaching as raised by community
members in several communities such as Lubulini, Nkambeni, Nkhube, Malanti,
Sigcaweni, and Siphocosini.

‘In terms of Section 23 (3) [of the Game Act] game
rangers are immune from prosecution for killing suspected poachers and
empowered to use firearm in the execution of their duties and to search without
warrant,’ SCCCO told the United Nations Human Rights Council Working Group on
the Universal Periodic Review of Swaziland in
a report.

It added, ‘For example, there is a case of Jika Jika
Mabila and another, who were shot by the Mlawula game rangers for suspected
poaching during the night inside the game reserve. The other died on the spot,
and Jika Jika was hospitalised at the Good Shepard Hospital, as he shot on the
leg, on the ribs, and on the left arm, and was eventually arrested.’

SCCCO recommended the Game Act be amended, ‘to give
effect to the full protection and realisation of the right to life and to allow
for the prosecution of all perpetrators of extrajudicial killings.’

There has been concern in Swaziland for many years
that game rangers have immunity from prosecution and can legally ‘shoot-to-kill’.

In January 2014, Swaziland’s
Police Commissioner Isaac Magagula said rangers were allowed shoot people who
are hunting for food to feed their hungry families.

He told a meeting of
traditional leaders in Swaziland, ‘Of course, it becomes very sad whenever one
wakes up to reports that rangers have shot someone. These people are protected
by law and it allows them to shoot, hence it would be very wise of one to shun
away from trouble.’

His comments came after an impoverished unarmed local
man, Thembinkosi Ngcamphalala, aged 21, died
of gunshot wounds. He had been shot by a
ranger outside of the Mkhaya Nature
Reserve.
His family, who live at Sigcaweni just
outside the reserve’s borders, said he had not been poaching.

Campaigners say poor people are not poaching large
game, such as the endangered black rhinos, but go hunting animals, such as
warthogs, as food to feed themselves and their families. Hunger
and malnutrition are widespread in Swaziland where seven in ten of King Mswati’s
subjects live in abject poverty. Many are forced to become hunters and
gatherers to avoid starvation.

King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan
Africa’s last absolute monarch, has given game rangers permission to
shoot-to-kill people suspected of poaching wildlife on his land and protects
them from prosecution for murder in some circumstances.

Ted Reilly, the chief executive of Big Game Parks
(BGP), which owns and manages Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary and Mkhaya Nature
Reserve and also manages Hlane National Park, the kingdom’s largest protected area,
held in trust for the Nation by the King,
holds a Royal Warrant to allow him to shoot-to-kill.

The documentary commentator said, ‘He [the King] gave
Ted a Royal Warrant that allowed him to arrest and if necessary shoot-to-kill
the poachers.’

The commentator added, ‘The Royal Warrant, still in
force today, protects rangers from prosecution for murder as long as the poacher
draws his weapon first.’

Reilly said, ‘It is the biggest honour that you could
possibly imagine.’

Reilly showed the documentary makers a specially-made
fort with gun turrets, where rangers can hide to shoot at poachers. He also
showed surveillance towers. ‘From here, we go out, we launch attacks,’ he said.

On camera, Reilly said the automatic weapons his
rangers used against poachers, ‘are much smaller than the AK-47, but are
equally as devastating. You don’t survive one of those shots if it hits you
properly.’

Reilly told the documentary, ‘Our guys aren’t to be
messed with. If they [poachers] come after rhino they’re going to get hurt, and
if he gets killed or maimed, well, you know, who’s to blame for that?’

Monday, 27 June 2016

Swaziland refused to withdraw all charges against
people brought under the Suppression of Terrorism Act (STA), when it appeared
before a United Nations review of human rights in the kingdom.

The STA has been criticised across the world because
it is used to arrest and jail people, including trade unionists, who are
legitimately calling for their rights.

Human Rights Watch in its World Report 2016,
said ‘The Suppression of Terrorism Act, the Sedition and Subversive Activities
Act of 1938, and other similarly draconian legislation provided sweeping powers
to the security services to halt meetings and protests and to curb criticism of
the government, even though such rights are protected under Swaziland’s 2005
constitution. In September 2015, eight human rights defenders challenged the
constitutionality of these security laws in the High Court of Swaziland. A
final ruling has yet to be handed down.’

The STA was ‘regularly used’ by the police to
interfere in trade union activities, Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) said in a
submission to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG)
in 2015.

Amnesty International hascriticised
of Swaziland for the ‘continued persecution of peaceful political opponents and
critics’ by the King and his authorities. It said the Swazi authorities
were using the Acts, ‘to intimidate activists, further entrench political
exclusion and to restrict the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression,
association and peaceful assembly.’

Swaziland is ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan
Africa’s last absolute monarch. Political parties are not allowed to contest
elections. The people are only allowed to select 55 of the 65 members of the
House of Assembly, with the King appointing the others. No members of the
30-strong Swaziland Senate are elected by the people.

Swaziland appeared before the United Nations Human
Rights Council Working Group for a five-yearly Universal Periodic Review in May
2016.

A draft
report of the review published online, stated that Swaziland
refused to accept 14 recommendations from members of the review panel,
including one from Norway that recommended a, ‘Withdraw all criminal charges
brought against human rights defenders and political opponents under laws such
as the Suppression of Terrorism Act of 2008 and other security legislation, and
ensure that proposed amendments to these acts bring them in conformity with
international human rights standards.’

Friday, 24 June 2016

Swaziland has failed in the promise it gave a United
Nations review in 2011 to change laws in the kingdom relating to freedom of
association and assembly so they met international standards, according to a
report by Human Rights Watch.

Swaziland is ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan
Africa’s last absolute monarch. Political parties are banned from taking part
in elections; only 55 members of the 65-seat House of Assembly are elected by
the people and none of the 30-seat Senate.

In 2011 at a United Nations Human Rights Council
Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of Swaziland, Swaziland agreed
to “[a]lign the national legislation with international standards to guarantee
freedom of assembly and association, in particular as regards the notification
of the organization of peaceful assemblies.”

In a report
to the Working Group in May 2016, Human Rights Watch stated,
‘The [Swazi] government has yet to repeal, or amend as appropriate, a number of
repressive laws that restrict basic rights guaranteed in Swaziland’s 2005
constitution, including freedom of association and assembly. On the contrary
the government has intensified restrictions on these rights over the past four
years.The laws in need of amendment
include the 2008 Suppression of Terrorism Act (STA), the 1938 Sedition and
Subversive Activities Act, and the 1963 Public Order Act.

‘Police have sweeping powers under the Public Order
Act. The king’s 1973 decree banning political parties remains in force despite
repeated calls from local political activists to have it revoked. The
constitution does not address the formation or role of political parties.
Section 79 of the constitution provides that Swaziland practices an electoral
system based on individual merit and excludes the participation of political
parties in elections.

‘Traditional leaders and chiefs have powers to restrict
access to their territories, and have often used these powers to bar civil
society groups and political groups like the Ngwane National Liberatory
Congress (NNLC) and the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) from
having meetings, recruiting, or any kind of presence in their areas. In 2011
PUDEMO challenged in court the government’s refusal to register political
parties but the court said PUDEMO has no legal standing to approach the court
as it did not exist as a legal entity.

‘The Suppression of Terrorism Act (STA) places severe
restrictions on civil society organizations, religious groups, and the media
because it includes in the definition of “terrorist act” a wide range of
legitimate conduct such as criticism of government, enabling officials to use
the provisions of the Act to target perceived opponents of the government. The
government has also misused the STA to target independent organizations by
accusing them of being “terrorist” groups, and harassed civil society activists
through abusive surveillance and unlawful searches of homes and offices.

‘Individuals who have been targeted for arrest or
prosecution under the STA include the leaders of People’s United Democratic
Movement (PUDEMO) and Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) who were arrested and
detained under the STA in 2014. Police arrested PUDEMO leader Mario Masuku in
May 2014, on terrorism charges for criticizing the government in a speech on
May 1. At the time of writing Masuku was out of jail on bail pending the
outcome of his trial. If convicted, he could serve up to 15 years in prison.

‘Police used violence to halt May Day celebrations
organized by trade unions in May 2013. In March 2015 police beat leaders of the
Swaziland National Association of Teachers and prevented them from hold a
meeting ostensibly because the discussions would have included calls for
multi-party democracy.’

Thursday, 23 June 2016

A 15-year-old boy was tortured by police in Swaziland
after his mother reported him for stealing E85 (US$6). The boy said he was
beaten with a metal blade and a club for five hours.

The case was just one of many reported to a United
Nations review panel looking into human rights in Swaziland, where King Mswati
III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

A joint report by four organisations working to
improve human rights stated, ‘In Mbabane [the Swazi capital], police tortured a
15-year-old boy after his mother had reported him for stealing E85.00. The boy
alleges that he was beaten with a slasher (metal blade tool for cutting grass)
and knobkerrie (club) for five hours. While enduring the pain, he alleges that
he was made to count the strokes aloud for the police to hear. Instead of being
charged, the boy was physically assaulted and made to sit in a chair for thirty
minutes before he was sent back home.’

The report
was submitted to the United Human Rights Council
Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of Swaziland by the Swaziland
Multi-Media Community Network, Swaziland Concerned Church Leaders, Swaziland
Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations and Constituent Assembly –
Swaziland.

They also reported the case of Phumelela Mkhweli, a
political activist who died after alleged assault by police after they arrested
him.

The report also stated, ‘In April 2011, a 66-year-old
woman was confronted by three police officers regarding the wording on her
t-shirt and headscarf. The police allegedly pulled off her T-shirt, throttled
her, banged her head against the wall, sexually molested her, kicked her and
threw her against a police truck.

‘The US Department of State reported on many
allegations of torture and ill-treatment by police; including beatings and
temporary suffocation using rubber tube tied around the face, nose, and mouth,
or plastic bags over the head, the report stated.

There have been numerous reports of torture by police
and military personnel in Swaziland over the past few years.

In July 2015, Swazi MP Titus Thwala reported that Swaziland soldiers
beat up old ladies so badly they had to be taken to their homes in
wheelbarrows. He said that elderly women were among the local residents who
were regularly beaten by soldiers at informal crossing points between Swaziland
and South Africa. Thwala said the soldiers made people do push ups and other
exercises.

In 2011, a man was
reportedly beaten with guns and tortured for three hours by
soldiers who accused him of showing them disrespect. He was ordered to do press
ups, frog jumps and told to run across a very busy road and was beaten with
guns every time he tried to resist. His crime was that he tried to talk to a
man whose vehicle was being searched by soldiers at Maphiveni.

The incident was one of many examples of soldiers
being out of control in Swaziland. The Army, in effect, has a shoot-to-kill
policy. In May 2011, three
unarmed South African men were shot dead by Swazi soldiers
when they were caught trying to smuggle four cows from Swaziland into the
Republic.

In July 2011, three armed soldiers left a manfor dead after
he tried to help a woman they were beating up. And in a separate incident, a
woman was beaten
by two soldiers after she tried to stop them talking to
her sister.

In January 2010 soldiers were warned that their
attacks on civilians amounted to a ‘shoot
to kill’ policy and this was unconstitutional.

There have been many accounts of soldiers killing or
beating up civilians, including a cold-blooded
murder of two women accused of smuggling a car across the
border with South Africa; a man who had five
bullets pumped into his body after being beaten to a pulp; an
attack
on sex workers after three soldiers refused to pay them
for their services; an attack by a bus load of soldiers on a security
guard after he asked them to move their vehicle; and five
drunk soldiers who terrorised two boys, smashing
one of them to a pulp.

Their report stated, ‘There is a growing trend of
child and youth abuse done by the state and the parents purportedly in “the
best interests of the child”. Children and youths are illegal incarcerated in
prison centres by parents in collaboration with the Commissioner of
Correctional Services who claims that the children are unruly.

‘In one incident, Grace (not her real name) who is a
single parent to John (not his real name) wrote a request letter to the
Commissioner of Correctional Services requesting that John be incarcerated for
unruly behaviour. In the letter, Grace states her concerns that eleven years
old John might not finish school; hence her reason for wanting him incarcerated
and attending the juvenile school at Malkerns Industrial School for
Rehabilitation.

‘Responding to the same letter of request by Grace,
the Commissioner of Correctional Services stated that under normal
circumstances, they do not admit persons who have not been sentenced by the
courts and directed therein through committal warrants.

‘However, the Commissioner agreed to rehabilitate John
under the stated conditions; that the 11 years old John is institutionalised at
the juvenile school for 10 years; there is an order from a presiding officer
giving him a custodial order of ten years without remission; and that he will
cooperate with His Majesty’s Correctional Services while under its care.

‘With that response, Grace [sic] the letter to a presiding officer who then wrote a custodial
order for the stipulated time and John was admitted to the juvenile school in
2013. The 11 years old John lodges with other juveniles who have been charged
by the court of law for various crimes they have committed. Grace pays tuition
fees and up-keep fees for John, and she will continue doing so for the next ten
years until 11 years old John is 21 years.

‘This case is one of many, and the children are of
different ages and varying backgrounds. It is only recently that a joint task
team comprising of UNICEF, Prison Fellowship Swaziland, Lawyers for Human
Rights-Swaziland, Save the Children Swaziland working together with the
department of home affairs are exploring means to curb this situation and probably
provide solutions for both the parents and children.’

In 2012, the Times
Sunday newspaper in Swaziland reported
that Isaiah Mzuthini Ntshangase, Swaziland’s Correctional Services
Commissioner, was encouraging parents to send their ‘unruly children’ to the
facility if they thought they were badly behaved.

Ntshangase was speaking at the open day of the
Juvenile Industrial School at the Mdutshane Correctional Institution. He told
the newspaper, ‘Noticing the strife that parents go through when raising some
of their children who are unruly, we decided to open our doors to assist
them.’

The school not only corrected offenders but assisted
‘in the fight against crime by rooting out elements from a tender age’, the
newspaper reported him saying. The children ‘will be locked up, rehabilitated
and integrated back to society’, the Times
reported.

The school accommodates pupils who were both in
conflict with the law as well as delinquents, the Times said. There were 279 children locked up at the time of the
interview.

The Times
interviewed some of the inmates and found a 15-year-old girl locked up by her
guardian because she had developed a relationship with a boyfriend that the
guardian did not like.

Another girl interviewed was an orphan who ‘lived a
town life’. She was reported saying, ‘In our dormitories which we share, we are
deprived all the nice and good things.’

She added the rules at the institution were tough, ‘This
place is not for the faint-hearted because you lose a lot of privileges that
are freely accessible outside. There is neither clubbing, drinking nor time for
boys.’

One unemployed father of an 11-year-old boy said he
put his son in the facility because he did not have money to pay school fees.
‘I am grateful that my son is in school. I cannot afford his education because
I am old. My wish is that he finishes school to earn a decent living,’ he said.

The guardian of one girl said before she was admitted at
the school, she had not been able to contain her behaviour. ‘My biggest problem
was that I had lost her. She dropped out of school together with my niece
(sister’s daughter) who is an orphan,’ she said.

Children reported that they were not beaten but they
were badly fed, getting their supper at around 3pm, which meant they went to
bed hungry.

This was not the first time the Swazi juvenile
correction facility had been under the spotlight.

In August 2010, it was revealed that a 12-year-old boy
was serving one year in Mdutshane because he insulted his grandmother. He had
been sentenced to an E300 fine (about US$40), but was too poor to pay so was
jailed instead.

Tuesday, 21 June 2016

A gay club has been formed in the Northern Hhohho region of Swaziland to
help tackle prejudice in the kingdom.

‘The motivation to form the gay club is to address stigmatisation
suffered by homosexuals who cannot find immediate safety amongst their peers,
parents and the community at large,’ the Swazi
Observer newspaper reported on Monday (20 June 2016).

The newspaper reported club president Nkhosinati ‘Fly’ Dlamini saying, ‘We
want to inform our immediate family members and friends that we are here and
proud. They must also know that we are not sick or confused it is just that we
are people who want our basic human rights. We don’t want to live in fear.’

The move comes shortly after a searing condemnation of
Swaziland’s violation of the rights of LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender
and Intersex) people was made to a United Nations group.

It stated, ‘As a result, the few organisations that
seek to advance the rights and welfare of LGBTI people, such as House of Our
Pride and Rock of Hope, are forced to operate under a fiscal sponsor, usually a
larger organisation dealing with HIV/AIDS or gender issues to avoid official
scrutiny. Rock of Hope which has been successful at acquiring formal
registration did so under a cloud of fear to fully disclose their full mandate
and nature of their beneficiaries being LGBTI persons whose existence is denied
and prohibited by the state.’

The report to the UNUPR was presented by Rock of Hope
jointly with three South African-based organisations.

The report added, ‘In Swaziland sexual health rights
of LGBTI are not protected. There is inequality in the access to general health
care, gender affirming health care as opposed to sex affirming health care and
sexual reproductive health care and rights of these persons. HIV prevention,
testing, treatment and care services continue to be hetero-normative in nature
only providing for specific care for men born as male and women born as female,
thereby leaving out trans men and women as an unprotected population which
continues to render the state’s efforts at addressing the spread and incidence
of HIV within general society futile.’

The report added, ‘LGBTIs are discriminated and
condemned openly by society. This is manifest in negative statements uttered by
influential people in society e.g., religious, traditional and political
leaders. Traditionalists and conservative Christians view LGBTIs as against
Swazi tradition and religion. There have been several incidents where
traditionalists and religious leaders have issued negative statements about
lesbians.

‘Human rights abuses and violations against members of
the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex population continue to go
undocumented, unreported, unprosecuted and not addressed.’

It added, ‘There is no legislation recognizing LGBTIs
or protecting the right to a non-heterosexual orientation and gender identity
and as a result LGBTI cannot be open about their orientation or gender identity
for fear of rejection and discrimination. For example, the Marriage Act, only
recognizes a marriage or a union between a man and a woman. Because of the
absence of a law allowing homosexuals to conclude neither marriage nor civil
unions, same-sex partners cannot adopt children in Swaziland.’

The report made seven recommendations to the Swazi
Government, including to review laws that undermine LGBTI persons’ rights in
particular and human rights in general especially as they conflict with the
Constitution; and to ensure prosecution of State agents who commit human rights
violations against LGBTI individuals and their organizations.

Monday, 20 June 2016

Albino people in Swaziland
have called on the Government to protect them because they say they are ‘hunted
down like animals’.

The call came on Friday (17
June 2016) during a march to raise awareness of the albino’s plight.

The Swazi
News
reported, ‘The message was
loud and clear that government should put in place policies to protect people
living with albinism; who are always on the run, as they are hunted down like
animals.’

People living with albinism
took to the streets in Mbabane, the kingdom’s capital, as part of a global
campaign to raise awareness.

People living with albinism
are often hunted down and ritually killed in Swaziland and their body parts
used in witchcraft.

During the national
elections in Swaziland in 2013, albinos lived in fear that their body parts
would be harvested by candidates seeking good luck.

Independent Newspapers in
South Africa reported at the time,
‘In the past albinos, who lack the skin pigment melanin, as well as epileptics
have been specifically targeted, prompting the police to set up registries.

‘In 2010, the killing and
mutilation of albinos, including in one instance the decapitation of two
children in Nhlangano, prompted panic.

‘Twenty-eight-year-old
Sipho Dlamini said such albino killings regularly take place, but in the past
were masked by rumours about albino behaviour.

‘“People were told that
when an albino dies, he would go and die far away where he or she would not be
found. I think they were killed,” he said.’

Friday, 17 June 2016

The Botswana Government has
been accused by trade unionists in that country of supporting Swaziland’s violation
of workers’ rights.

Botswana Federation of
Trade Unions (BFTU) said members were shocked when Botswana supported
Swaziland, a fellow member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC),
at the recent International Labour Conference (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland.

Mmegi newspaper
in Botswana reported
on Wednesday (15 June 2016) that BFTU president Bohithetswe Lentswe said that
the government of Swaziland appeared before the committee of application of
standards for violation of right to organise and collective bargaining and
right to freedom of association and protection of the right to organise.

Lentswe said that Botswana
speaking on behalf of SADC as the chair of the regional bloc said that there is
no need for any intervention from the ILO as it noted progress in addressing
the issues by both governments.

In the Swaziland case,
Lentswe said that it was noted that it was the seventh consecutive time the
case was discussed in the conference committee and the kingdom had been
examined 14 times, but Botswana government again said that the Swaziland
government was progressing to implement the convention.

In Swaziland political
parties are banned and King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last
absolute monarch. King Mswati will take over the chair of SADC in August 2016.

Lentswe added, “The
Botswana government noted with satisfaction the significant progress made by
the convention as amendments have been tabled in Swaziland parliament to create
a conducive environment for effective social dialogue while saying this was
evidenced by the registration of federations of trade unions. Botswana
expressed confidence that SADC would address the issues.”

Lentswe said that this was
wrong coming from SADC chair. He said as the World of Work actors, they
strongly believe in social dialogue and condemn the decision of Botswana to
condone “bad-boy behaviour”.

Lentswe said that the
situation in Swaziland was bad and needed ILO intervention as the government
continued to violate the fundamental right of freedom of association and
protection of the right to organise. He further said that they were happy that
the conference heeded their plea for intervention to send a commission to
assess the situation in the kingdom.

Thursday, 16 June 2016

The Swazi
Observer has hidden the links between King Mswati III and MTN in its
extensive coverage of the cell phone service provider in recent days.

The Observer,
which is in effect owned by King Mswati, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan
Africa’s last absolute monarch, has devoted acres of space to MTN, which has
the monopoly of cell phone business in the kingdom.

On Wednesday (15 June 2016), the Observer reported as its main story on its
front page the ‘news’ that MTN was scrapping scratch cards for lower
denominations of airtime, but people would still be able to top-up their phones
from street vendors.

The story ran over pages two and three
and was written by the Observer chief
editor Mbongeni Mbingo.

On previous days it had devoted pages
and pages to the so-called ‘21 Days of Y’ello Care’, which is an ongoing
promotion of the company that relies on its staff volunteering time and money for
good causes. This year the focus
is on education.

What the Observer did not tell its readers was that King Mswati has a large
personal financial stake in the company. He owns 10 percent of the shares and
is considered by MTN to be an ‘esteemed shareholder’ in the company.

MTN has been the monopoly mobile
provider in Swaziland since 1998 and services are provided in a joint venture
between MTN, the Swazi Government and the Royal Family.

The King’s income from MTN is generally kept secret from his
1.2 million subjects. Seven in ten of them live in abject poverty with incomes
of less than US$2 per day. The King is notoriously secretive about his own wealth;
it had been estimated by Forbes
that he had a net wealth (assets minus liabilities) of US$200 million.

It added, ‘These companies have either given large chunks of
the shares in their Swazi businesses to Mswati directly or to Swaziland’s
investment institution, Tibiyo
Taka Ngwane over which Mswati has absolute control.’

It reported that the King holds 10 percent of the shares in
MTN in Swaziland and is referred to by the company as an ‘esteemed shareholder’.
It said MTN had paid R114 million (US$11.4 million) to the King over the five
years up to 2014.

The newspaper quoted a report from Freedom House which
stated, ‘Foreign companies wishing to enter Swaziland must bribe Mswati with
shares or cash in varying amounts depending on the potential for profitability
of the proposed venture and the new business’s possible impact on Mswati’s own
business interests.’

The Sunday Times
reported that MTN had a monopoly in Swaziland and was used by 57 percent of the
population. It said MTN was able to keep prices high, citing the cost of 300
megabytes of data in Swaziland as R149, while in South Africa the same amount
of data cost R79.

In 2009, Earl Irvine, then US
Ambassador to Swaziland, wrote
a confidential cable (later published by Wikileaks)
in which he said the King operated in his own financial interest. Part of the
cable said, ‘Royal politics and King Mswati’s business interests appear to have
caused the ouster of Mobile Telephone Network (MTN) CEO Tebogo Mogapi and
halted parastatal Swaziland Post and Telecommunications Corporation (SPTC) from
selling the MTN shares it owns to raise money for a Next Generation Networks
(NGN) cell phone project.

‘Industry and press observers privately
indicated that the King, who already owns many MTN shares, had wanted to
purchase the MTN shares himself at a cheaper price than the buyer, MTN, was
offering SPTC.

‘Government officials later prevented
the sale, and recently did not renew the work permit for CEO Mogapi, a South
African citizen, apparently in retaliation for his role in the transaction, as
well as the CEO’s reported decision to oppose government efforts to use the MTN
network for electronic surveillance on political dissidents.’

The cable went on, ‘The government’s
halt of parastatal SPTC’s sale of MTN shares demonstrates the impact the King’s
and other influential individuals’ private business interests can have on business
transactions in Swaziland.

‘Government officials would likely
prefer a more malleable Swazi CEO at MTN who would cooperate more fully with
royal and government wishes.’

Dlamini is the man in charge of the
government-controlled parastatal, SPTC and is therefore a key decision maker in
the affairs of Swaziland’s national posts and telecommunication. This raised questions about Dlamini’s
impartiality when making decisions about SPTC.

A research article written by Ewan
Sutherland of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa,
and published in December
2014 in the Communicatio academic journal, explored
telecommunications in Swaziland and concluded there was no competition for
mobile phones in the kingdom and ‘the monarch and his cronies are financially
tied to Swazi MTN, seeking to neuter the state-owned SPTC. The government has
no concern for consumers, service delivery or economic growth, with the King
and his prime minister looking after their personal financial interests.’

‘Sutherland wrote, [I]t is difficult to
see how any investor could have confidence, unless it had the sovereign on
their side and, more likely, in their pocket.

‘The monarch has a significant and
lucrative investment in the principal operator, with the effect of confusing
and confounding an already feeble system of governance. The opaque
profit-seeking of the King conflicts with the purported aspiration to good governance
of telecommunications markets and the interests of his subjects. In a
constitutional monarchy, arrangements can be made to keep the investments of a
monarch separate from politics, allowing for transparency, accountability to
parliament and the avoidance of interference with governance (e.g., Japan and
the Netherlands).

‘A feudal monarchy knows no such
distinction, there are no conflicts of interest for ministers, regulators and
directors – they obey their king. It echoes the problems of Morocco, where its
king has private interests in telecommunications, has ministers sit on the
supervisory board of the state-owned operator, and he appoints the regulator
and is head of the judiciary.

‘Ordinarily the MTN Group would be
expected to favour competition and market entry. However, in the Kingdom of
Swaziland it has violently opposed competition, going to considerable lengths
to block a second mobile operator and even a fixed wireless service. This
record removes any presumption in other jurisdictions that its actions are
pro-competitive. Equally, it has been happy to work with Mswati III, one of the
exotic collection of autocrats with whom it does business, with no fear of
reputational risk.’